Kwantlen Polytechnic University offers Metal Fabrication/Fitter Foundation Citation, a foundation in Upgrading/upskilling programme in Surrey, Canada. The programme runs for 23 weeks, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 3,300 per total for local students.
At a glance
Degree:Foundation
Field:Upgrading/upskilling
Duration: 23 weeks
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 3,300 / total
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
This 23-week foundation program introduces the metal fabrication and fitting trade to students who have not yet registered as apprentices, combining shop-based practical projects with classroom instruction in reading technical drawings, layout, cutting, burning, sawing, shearing, punching, drilling, and shaping metal components through assembly, welding, and fastening. On completion, students receive a Metal Fabricator's Logbook and become eligible for SkilledTradesBC credit toward Metal Fabricator Level 1 apprenticeship, along with a number of work-based hours credited toward that designation, and can progress into KPU's Metal Fabrication Apprenticeship for levels two and three. The program runs at KPU's Cloverdale campus; as of the source page, intakes are reserved for KPU's Youth Train in Trades partnerships, with a number of seats also held for self-declared Indigenous students. It suits people with strong math and mechanical aptitude who enjoy working from drawings and can manage the trade's physical demands, including standing, lifting, and hand-eye-coordinated work, aiming at employment in structural steel fabrication, boiler and plate-work facilities, heavy machinery manufacturing, or shipbuilding.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: In addition to meeting one of KPU's applicant categories, this citation sets its own English and Mathematics prerequisites rather than the standard undergraduate or vocational English test. English: English Studies 12, Literary Studies 12, English First Peoples 12, Composition 12 or Creative Writing 12, each at a minimum grade of C, or equivalent; or KPU's Vocational Trades English Reading Assessment at a minimum score of 80%. Mathematics: Workplace Mathematics 11, Foundations of Mathematics 11 or Pre-Calculus 11, each at a minimum grade of C, or equivalent; or KPU's Math Placement Test at a minimum score of 12. Completion of high school technology-education courses is noted as an asset. Four seats per intake are reserved for self-declared Indigenous applicants. Intakes are currently reserved for KPU's Youth Train in Trades partnerships.
Application Details
Start Date:Trades Foundation programmes run on their own fixed start dates rather than on KPU's Fall, Spring and Summer academic terms — the Senate calendar notes that some vocational and trades programmes begin and end outside the published term dates, and the Faculty of Trades and Technology runs roughly 92 intakes across the year. Admissible applicants are placed on a waitlist and offered the next available start date, so ask the faculty at kpu.ca/trades for the current intake schedule rather than assuming a September start.
Application Deadline:This is a Trades Foundation programme and it does not use KPU's term-based application windows. Applications are accepted all year round. Once your application checklist is complete you join the admission waitlist for the next available start date, ordered by the date your checklist was finished, and an offer follows when a seat opens; the offer letter names your confirmation deposit deadline. Declining a first offer sends your application to the back of the waitlist, and declining a second offer — or simply not replying — closes it, after which you must reapply. Domestic applicants (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) apply online at kpu.ca/apply, which redirects to EducationPlannerBC, and pay a non-refundable CAD 40 application fee; international applicants request a paper application from [email protected] and pay CAD 120. Every applicant must satisfy one of KPU's applicant categories plus the programme's own English and mathematics requirements, may be asked to sit KPU's Vocational Trades reading and mathematics assessment, and for some programmes must attend an interview or supply reference letters.
